They managed to sneak out without being seen, but when they got back to Reba's car, Brock was confused.
"Why didn't you want him seeing us?" He asked. "We weren't doing anything wrong."
Reba dug through her purse for her keys. "How do you think he'd like it if he knew I broke our date to go to dinner with you?" She looked up after failing to find her keys. "Did I give you my keys?"
Brock patted his pockets. "No."
She sighed and went back to searching as Brock said, "Look, Reba, if I knew going out tonight was going to make you all weird, I wouldn't have asked you. I didn't know this would be a big deal. I thought you were over me."
She slowly looked up. "I am."
"If you were, being seen with me wouldn't be a big deal because the thought of us doing something wouldn't be in your mind. But obviously it is because you didn't want Rhett to see us. Isn't that a bit odd?"
"What are you getting at here, Brock?" Reba located her keys and slung her purse over her shoulder.
"Do you remember the question I asked you in there?"
"About there being someone else? Yes. Why?"
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"You never answered me."
"Yes, I did."
"No, you danced around a half answer. You never gave me a yes or a no."
"Well, you never answered my question either."
"And what was your question?"
"Why do you care?" She turned and unlocked her car door, climbing in and starting the engine. She went to shut the door but Brock caught it before she could.
"I care because I care for you. Barbra Jean and mine's relationship as a married couple is over, Reba. It was over before it even started. I just didn't want to admit it because even though I was miserable, I was comfortable. Does that make sense?"
She nodded and he continued.
"I just wanted some confirmation that I'm not the only one going through that. And now I know I'm not."
Reba sat back in her seat. "Well, what now, Brock? Where do we go from here?" Her tone was sarcastic and Brock knew she was getting irritated, but he also knew she believed him. She was going to cave at his next question.
"Why don't we stop doing what's right for a little while?"
Reba leaned forward and looked at him. He had his forearm on the top of the vehicle, holding the door open with his other hand and his eyes were looking straight into hers. "What did you say?"
"Let me rephrase that. Why don't we stop doing what we think is right for a little while?"
"Where's that going to get us in the end?"
"I don't know the answer to that, but I do know this. I was the most happiest when I was with you."
Reba looked at him and suddenly she was his wife again. He was her husband and they were together. Then she blinked and it changed.
"But what if this 'right thing' is the wrong thing?"
He took his arm off the car and leaned in closer to her. "Why don't we just play it by ear?"
She bit her lip as she thought about her conversation with Rhett about her hair earlier. Staring Brock straight in the face, she reached into her purse and pulled out a hair-tie. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and said, "When have we done anything different?"
So Reba allowed herself to lose her head for a while as Brock drove them to a motel a few blocks away. There, they let themselves stop doing what they thought was the right thing. Reba figured it'd take her awhile to feel guilty because that evening when she got home, there was still no remorse.
Reba walked in the house, hair a mess, the heel on her shoe broken and a few buttons missing from her shirt.
"Hey, baby, you home?" Rhett called from the kitchen as she slammed the front door. He appeared in the doorway moments later. "Damn, what happened to you?"
"It's windy," She simply said as she ascended up the stairs. But not before she tossed her shoes by the front door. As she did so, she recalled doing the same a few hours earlier...
She didn't mean to kick her heels off that hard, but she winced as they hit the motel room door. Brock ignored it as he undid his tie and took off his belt, laying her down on the bed, crawling over her.
"I didn't think you'd say yes," He said with a smile. "But I was hoping you would."
"Shut up, Brock. I don't need to hear you yapping right now." She grabbed him by his hair and brought his lips to hers as she wrapped one leg around his waist.
He pulled back and grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head. "You're cute thinking you're running this show."
She reared up and rolled them over, pinning his arms above his head. "Right back atcha." She let go of his wrists long enough to unbutton the first few buttons of her shirt which gave him enough time to roll them over once more and rip the rest of the buttons off, sending them flying.
"Did you enjoy your dinner?" Rhett asked her as he walked into the bedroom with a bottled water.
Nodding absentmindedly, Reba sat on the bed and set her alarm for the next morning.
"Well, good," He said, going to the opposite side of the bed. "So, you still up for what we talked about earlier?"
Reba lazily glanced over her shoulder at him.
She gasped when the first connection was made. It was better than she had imagined and she didn't know where she was for a moment in time. Nothing really mattered in her world then. And she wished she could feel like that forever. She was so used to dealing with everyone else's problems and questions, but for a few minutes, that time was her own.
Brock ran his hands down her sides as she reached up to kiss his face, not caring where her lips landed.
"Not really."
She stood and walked to the bathroom leaving Rhett standing beside the bed with a bewildered look on his face.
"Okay..." He said slowly, going to the bathroom but stopping short when Reba shut the door in his face. He blinked before leaning close to the door and asking, "Baby, did something happen? Are you okay?"
She sat down on the edge of the tub and closed her eyes. For the first time since Rhett asked her to marry him, she smiled because she was truly happy, if only for that moment.
"I'm just fine."
"How was that?"
Reba looked over at Brock and chuckled, trying to catch her breath.
"Still need confirmation, huh? Was the end not enough for you?"
He nudged her shoulder. "You're mean."
"Whatever." She rolled over to face him and leaned her forehead on his shoulder. "I almost wish I could sleep here."
He rested his chin on her head. "Like old times." He sighed. "I miss waking up with you."
She closed her eyes. "I do, too, sometimes."
He wrapped his arm around her waist. "I'm still waiting for your freak-out moment." He laughed but she shook her head.
"No. It's too wonderful to ruin with that. Right now, anyway." She lifted her head a bit to look at him. She ran her finger along his jawline before touching his lips with hers, whispering, "I can't promise anything about later, though."
I figured I'd go ahead and post since I technically posted last night but it didn't show up until I re-uploaded this morning. So...here's to hoping this uploads without issues.
